Report: Andrew Bynum gets an offer from Cavaliers + a look back at the season that wasn't

(Associated Press)

Andrew Bynum's unceremonious tenure in Philadelphia could be coming to a close soon.

The free agent center received a $24 million, two-year contract offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, according to Yahoo! Sports. Bynum, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is meeting with the Atlanta Hawks today, to see if he can get a deal from them, as well. Yahoo! is reporting that the deal from the Cavaliers has the second year of the deal as a team option (to protect against a suddenly healed Bynum walking at free agency a year from now) as well as incentives like minutes played, games played and training-camp participation.

Bynum, acquired by the Sixers in a four-team megadeal last summer, never played a game in Philadelphia. He entered training camp with chronically injured knees and underwent season-ending surgery on both joints in March, after several bids to return to the court.

When healthy, Bynum is one of few bigs who can play at his level. The 7-foot, 285-pounder had his best season as a pro in 2011-12 with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaging 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.

Bynum's agent, David Lee, said recently that his client would not work out for teams looking to give Bynum a contract.

The Sixers have shown little to no interest in re-signing Bynum in free agency, despite new general manager Sam Hinkie's somewhat openness to doing so. At least that's how Hinkie made it sound in May, when he was introduced as the team's GM and president of basketball operations, though it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

“I think of Andrew like the thousands of other young men walking around the world that are unrestricted free agents that have potential to play NBA basketball,” Hinkie said at the time. “He is one of those. I'm duty bound to consider them and look at them. All of them.”

Nearly 11 months ago to the day, Aug. 14, 2012, the Sixers introduced Bynum to fans in an open-to-the-public press conference at the National Constitution Center. There were high hopes that the Sixers, a team that fell one win shy of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, would get over the hump behind Bynum. But the center never played, citing a host of knee injuries along the way.

In September, Bynum flew to Germany for a non-invasive, plasma-enriching procedure called Orthokine. In October, he had injections of a joint lubrication called Synvisc-One. In November, while rehabbing his right knee, he admitted he injured his left knee while bowling. In December, Bynum was told to ramp up his rehab. In January, he engaged in a workout in front of reporters. In February, in addition to his primary physician, he visited an orthopaedic surgeon in New York. In March, he underwent two knee surgeries.